I not sure why, but I can’t shake the feeling BYU football is heading down the path of no return.
We have had five years of:
Sub par winning percentage against Utah
Lack of Draft picks in normally strong areas (Lineman, Tight Ends, etc.)
Nothing to play for after the first loss (league championship)
Lack of players development (tied to #2)
Strong Schedule this year, but realistically, it won’t help because we will either win them all or so beat up, lesser teams could have a good chance to beat us.
Anae scheme… Not sure it works even after a couple of years.
QB lack of staying healthy.
Just a few things… I know I tend to be a bit negative about some things, but I would really like to see BYU get back to the days people feared to play us.
I agree, I haven’t been a fan of the direction of the program since we went Indy. I hate to say it, but the program has taken a step back and I’m not sure if it can recover outside of joining the P5.
It’s helped to pull back a bit of my expectations, but it’s a shame as I feel the program became more concerned with perception than performance.
I am apparently one of the few on here that actually likes Bronco, but I agree totally with that last sentence. I’ve been arguing for decades that they need to get rid of the Soviet Style Honor Code. Of course I’m in the minority on that particular view.
Its gotten to the point where we just await the fall from grace that is about to happen, and to me that’s what sucks about being an independent. I think we have a good chance to beat Nebraska and if we pull that off Taysom Hill will be on the short list for the Heismann. But if we lose, the season is basically over with so little to play for. And of course even if we beat Nebraska the odds are minuscule that we could get through that schedule undefeated, hence the disappointment is coming. We just don’t know when. Unless… OK I got nothing.
Floyd: I agree with you on Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and especially No. 6 (Anae’s Go Hard Go Fast- a loser for both offense and defense). But I think BYU is on the right track staying indy and getting all of those P-5 games on the schedule. It gives BYU something better to play for, it should help recruiting, and adding the COA (better than the PAC 12), BYU may well develop something positive. More money and more flexibility in recruiting and scheduling.
I think that BYU would be better off with a new HC and have Bronco as DC or get a new one if he leaves. We would also need a new OC to replace Anae. Anae could make a good offensive line coach, with or without BYU.
I like Bronco. I think he has a mentality that works well with the type of player we are likely to get at BYU. At BYU we are much more likely to get the overlooked player that wants to put in the effort to get to the next level than we are to get the player that is 5 stars out of high school. His system works well for that type of player. The negative about the plan is, sometimes BYU is able to recruit talent and when they do, Bronco does not have the mentality to take advantage of that talent if the talent comes saddled with ego. He has no patience for that.
I think the value of the GFGH offense is still unknown (being optimistic). Frequently when you change to a new scheme, it takes a few years for you to recruit the players that you need to effectively run the offense. After a few years, I have some concerns. Quarterback safety seems to be suspect with the scheme. Additionally, the scheme does not seem to transition well with periods of effective, ineffective offensive performance. When BYU is on offensively, GFGH is great. However, when BYU has periods of low performance, GFGH turns into GFG nowhere.
I like the fact that BYU is no longer saddled with the MWC. I can now see all of the games. I went through years of only seeing games I could attend and living in New York, opportunities to attend were minimal. The new format of playing games all over the country is that fans that are throughout the country can actually attend at least one game per year and fans that cannot attend a game can watch it somewhere.
A negative that comes with playing outside a conference is the lack of a conference championship.
I am at the portion of the year where I still believe that BYU will go undefeated. I have been planning on BYU winning every game at the start of every year since 1984. I simply have the expectation that BYU will go undefeated. The reality is that BYU probably won’t go undefeated. However, until they don’t go undefeated, they are still going to be undefeated and I can give you multiple reasons why. If they don’t go undefeated, it’s possible that we can have a reasonable discussion about whether or not the difficult schedule was a good idea. However, the likelihood is that I will be in 12-1 mode at that point or 11-2, etc. You might have to wait until after the season.
I wasn’t aware that Utah had a football team this year. I know they did two years ago, but I haven’t been paying attention since then. I remember years ago, Steve Young finally took the 49ers to the Super Bowl. After they won the game, he was walking off the field and he said something like, “can someone please finally take this monkey off my back.” Kylie approaches the BYU game as the Super Bowl. Bronco approaches the game as another game. The consecutive wins by Utah have developed an inevitable feel to them. In the last game, I felt that BYU was burdened with both the recent history as well as the actual game. I think it will get better over time. On the bright side, BYU will have Juniors on next year’s team that will have never lost to Utah. Maybe that will be enough to change the mindset.
Overall, I am not as worried about BYU’s direction (they are going undefeated this year after all ) Hopefully, the offense will start to click.
Actually Mike, I don’t dislike Bronco, I think is ok as a HC, wish he would do a few more things, but it always easy to armchair things…
I am thinking the “Direction” is going south for some reason…
Maybe the enhanced enforcement of the HC after the Crowton issues.
Maybe the lack of hiring assistants that can actually do the job (Doman as OC, Howell as DC and Anae Period!)
Maybe it is that we are losing the recruiting wars of good players in order to bring those who convince Bronco they should be here(his words, not mine).
Maybe it is the lack of game planning and adjustments during the game…
Not sure if the Independence is an issue or not, I like the fact that we can play some of these teams, but if we keep this up, by the end of the seasons the players would be pretty beat up… which affects next year games…
Pretty much agree Floyd. I’m hoping the “going south” thing is temporary and that were going to see that reverse this year. We had an incredible amount of bad luck with injuries last year. I remember thinking how incredibly deep we were and then after four games starting to wonder whether they were going to be able to field a team. The only good thing was that Christian Stewart, and some others, got a chance to show what a great player he is, but we lost way too many games trying to change the scheme.
Not sure what I think of GFGH. I’ve seen it be pretty efficient, but I think they need to take into consideration the game situation a lot more than they do. It seems strange that they still run it when their ahead by 2 or 3 scores in the 4th quarter. To me that’s when you want to take as much time of the clock as you can. Also in other crucial situations it might make sense to slow things down a bit and get them right when you have no advantage.
I watched the Houston game last night. I had forgotten how strong we started out and then only managed to win by 8. I think we were up something like 23-3 and then started to fall apart. It almost looked like the defense got tired early. The whole first quarter our line was getting to the quarterback without even blitzing and the tackling was amazing. Then we kind of fell apart and let them get a long hail marry touchdown at the end of the half and continued to make dumb mistakes on defense through most of the third quarter. We need to get a lot more consistent if were gonna beat the teams on the schedule this year.
I think with the new Strength and Conditioning coach… those injuries will be less this year.
I read an article about him and how he says a lot of injuries is do to the way they do off season conditioning…
He changed not only how conditioning happens (example Each group has their specific conditioning routines as opposed to one fits all system) but also what they do…
Interesting. I hope it makes a difference but I also think they need to only run him in critical situations. Everything hinges on keeping him healthy this year. He’s obviously way to good to not run that option occasionally but I think they should keep it to a minimum. I loved that we finally got the long passing game going with Stewart at the end of the year. If Taysom 's passing has improved as much as it did last year were gonna be really hard to stop.
For me, the whole ball of wax is about doing what ever it takes to get into a RESPECTED P5 conference.
I don’t care about meaningless bowl games vs. Nobodies. I don’t care about having a 12-0 season against nobodies. I don’t care about making it to a NYB. Talk about another NC at this time in our history is folly.
The only thing real now, is making what ever compromise is necessary to get accepted into a respected P5 conference. We must act like we are already in a P5 conference by scheduling like we are already in a P5 conference with no less than 9 P5 teams and with no FCS teams. Our over all SOS for each season must never fall below 64.( Half of 128 teams is 64.) (Top 64 is within P5 range. while bottom 64 teams are all in the G5 range). The higher our SOS schedule is within the P5 range, the more seriously we will be taken as a P5 team.
Indeed. But i believe that Indy wasn’t the problem. Bronco’s infatuation with Riley Nelson’s leadership abilities, blinding him from the fact that a qb is supposed to actually have an arm, has aided mightily in byu’s lack luster, twilight zone’esk direction. Munns should have been great for byu. He had ALL the tools for success. Instead he’s just another statistic. Yet another mis-evaluated superstar in the making who ‘wanted byu’ from the start and in the end left, head hanging, without ever getting a chance. Talent evaluation, imo, has been the real punch to the program. …
Can you believe Anae actually told Trevor Riley that he wasn’t talented enough for him to waste a scholarship on? And now Porter Gustin, who was whined and dined by Ohio state and usc. Not talented enough? The list goes on and on.
I have many of the frustrations over our HC that you have.
He is holier than any of us, no matter how hard we try to live a good life. (ask him).
He is the supreme ruler and decision maker and is never wrong regardless of how many believe him to be wrong.
Play calling is often suspect. (freezing the kicker with time outs when the kicker never freezes and is among the best in the nation) etc. Then we lose the game, due to lack of time outs.
(should be #1). If your are above a 3 star player, you probably will not make it under this HC. He would rather work with 0-3 star players and force them to be overachievers, while the 4-5 star players transfers out.
I don’t believe we can make it to the next level, (P5 conference) with any HC as good and pure, and correct all the time, and all knowing and wise, as the HC that we now have.
" Mendenhall also offered more insight into what led to Williams leaving the program.
“Yes, it was my decision on Jamaal,” he said.
“That’s the great thing about what’s happening at BYU and through my tenure, the establishment of trust and the best way is that when I know first and the player and I can work it out and then make recommendations.
If we really believe in the scriptures, "Judge not, lest ye be judged, is it time to judge the judger of Jaamal Williams?
Why do we alway shoot ourselves in the foot? Are we that afraid of success? Angry ? Yes !!!
" Running backs coach Mark Atuaia seemed less certain about the possibility of Williams’ return. “We’ll let it play out,” he said."
Williams is not coming back, just my strong belief. That whole thing: withdraw from the school for the entire year, redshirting the 2015 season and then reenrolling and playing the 2016 season - just makes no sense - NONE…
Brandon Davies did it but that was during summer break. For a whole year, I won’t judge Jamal. Right now, I am all pump up for a new season. By 2016, he comes back good for him and if he doesn’t wish him well where ever he be.
Floyd: I believe that Texas is now scared of playin’ BYU. If we beat Nebraska, Boise St. will have doubts about playing BYU. If we then can beat BSU then UCLA will have some doubts when they play us. If by some miracle or luck we win over UCLA Michigan will think twice about the BYU game. If we go ahead and beat Michigan, then it is 4 and 0 with hopefully a healthy Taysom Hill If we got to such a point who knows? 1984 again?
Mike H: I somewhat agree with you on the GFGH. But it appears.at this date (9/3) that with the culpability of the injury issue involving Taysom Hill and the power we have in our receivers and the improvement of our OL if we can score in bunches and the GFGH is slowed down to try to keep Hill on the field, I can see us winning 8 or 9 games, maybe even ten. With this heavy schedule, if BYU learns to win by playing slower and scores a lot, I think we might do quite well. What other options does BYU have? Perhaps Anae and Bronco have learned something over these past three years or so. I only hope so. I like it that BYU is not shouting NC or no undefeated season. The Blue hype seems a lot more realistic this year. If we can win one, maybe two of the first four games and clear the slate with the lesser teams we might win 8 or nine games outside of Missouri. If, if, if, no doubt. But just about every team is basing its season on if if too. I do believe that if BYU doesn’t win at least seven games this year, that Anae and maybe Bronco will be gone. If they can win 7 plus I believe that they will be around for some more time. That’s why they play the games. I am trying to be cautiously optimistic this year, given the schedule and the concerns for injuries to key players as opposed to 2014. Go Cougars.
Go WEST!!! … Oh wait, we don’t have that option … unless we hold out for the PAC16 (Super-Conference Structure) to match the SEC16.
I’m just focused on Nebraska at this point … and frankly very excited about the possibilities. I’m also grateful as said by others that NO-ONE on the team is talking NC, or even Play-Off. The goal is the game in the immediate week. I like that approach!! It will minimize the letdown with losses (whether on the scoreboard or a player injury).
) Hopefully, the offense will start to click.